Consumer 6: New Rules for Air Bags Set by Government

Tuesday, February 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Air bag safety is a topic that has stirred up controversy between the public, automobile manufacturers and safety groups for several years. The government is now stepping in to correct the situation with new rules for automakers. Currently, itâ€™s estimated that there are more than 80 million air bags installed in vehicles presently on the American road.

Automakers say they've saved thousands of lives by installing airbags in vehicles. In reality, they may have also killed or injured nearly 100 children and small adults. Most of these accidents and injuries have occurred during low impact fender benders. One air bag victim was six-year-old Matt Harrist of Mississippi. He was riding in the family car with his mother and brother. "An airbag broke his neck,â€ said the victimâ€™s brother Charlie Harrist.

Doctors say air bags have also injured passengersâ€™ arms and hands by the impact of the exploding bag. Because of these problems and the potential for death and/or serious injury, a group called Parents for Safer Air Bags has lobbied the government for tougher air bag tests. The Department of Transportation has responded to the publicâ€™s call. The department will soon require automakers to use child-sized dummies when conducting air bag tests. "The only way to know that the current system is safe is to test all the different children sizes," said Parents for Safer Air Bags spokesman Robert Sanders.

The transportation department will officially announce the new rules March 1st. The new guidelines will be effective beginning in 2002.